Who is Liz Mayer ?

Liz Mayer is a consultant, life coach, and CycleBar instructor in Jackson Township. She joined the CycleBar instructor team to extend her passion for health and wellness in the community.

“I instructed group fitness in college, have always had a passion for music and dance, and exercise has been my favorite form of self-care, so being part of the CycleBar team was a dream come true,” she said. “It integrates coaching with exercise and community.”

Mayer graduated high school from St. Vincent-St. Mary in Akron. She went on to graduate from Kent State University with a master of business administration and Ohio University with a bachelor’s degree in communications. She also earned a life coach certification from The Life Coach School.

Mayer and her husband Mark have two daughters, Carmen, 11, and Cecilia, 9, and a mini golden doodle named Sonny.

“I spent the first 20 years of my career in a variety of marketing roles across retail, consumer packaged goods and financial services industries,” she said. “When my employer decided to make large-scale layoffs in 2021 and I was impacted, I used this as an opportunity to build a life by design and create a career around what lit me up, professionally and personally. My mantra became ‘Be her so they see her,’ referencing my two young girls. I couldn’t jump into a soul-sucking job just to work, because I wouldn’t want them to do that. I knew I had to take this setback as a step forward and treat my work as a calling.

“I now have a multi-faceted career consulting at The Partnering Group, where I advise companies on building omnichannel marketing and sales strategies and capabilities. I speak at conferences and colleges, am the host of The Work & Whim podcast, and as a life coach, I coach women in the workforce on how to balance career and personal goals without burnout.”

What kind of physical fitness classes do you teach?

I teach at CycleBar Jackson Township on Fulton Road on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. and Sunday mornings at 9:30 am.

The classes at CycleBar are great for all fitness levels and offer a safe and effective total body workout with an energizing community and engaging experience. I compare our classes to being at a fun dance club, but you don’t have to dance! The music is great, the studio is the nicest studio I have ever set foot in, and all the instructors are amazing.

Would you share details of what you do as a life coach?

As a consultant, I help companies create strategies and advance teams to help them innovate and grow in an omnichannel ecosystem. So much has changed with the acceleration of digital and technology spurred from COVID, yet organizations haven’t evolved the ways they plan their growth and evolve their talent.

I help organizations address these areas in a way that enables best practices in leveraging tech and data, but also empowering their most important asset — people.

As a life coach, I help high-achieving working women who struggle with overwhelm and self-doubt and show them how to create a personal and professional life they love. Despite my clients being successful, smart women, they often struggle with self-doubt, so my program helps identify the culprits of negativity so they can move from self-critical to self-confident.

Oftentimes, my clients are very strong at developing and implementing strategies for their employers, but they haven’t created a compelling vision for their personal and professional life. I help my clients drive clarity to what they really want out of their limited, precious time. This includes a personal development plan so they can track their progress towards their own transformation and change.

How do your multiple careers link together or are they complete opposites?

For some, when they hear what I do for work they may say, “that is a lot of different hats.”

For me, the convergence of consulting, coaching and fitness all comes down to my personal mission: Empowering people to see their own possibilities.

Organizations whom I consult want growth. Women whom I coach and listen to my podcast want confidence. And, riders who come to my class want to feel a release from their lives outside of the studio and to challenge themselves in a way that leads to a healthier life.

All groups are seeking advancement from their current state. My goal in each of these ecosystems is to listen, inform, inspire and empower the people to have the confidence to make that next step. The room may be different. The context may be different — the opportunity is the same. It all comes down to invigorating people to see their potential.

What are your two favorite thoughts you share with others to motivate them to be physically fit or to overcome any self-doubts they have in their lives?

What you say to yourself about yourself is the most important voice you will ever have to live with, so make sure that voice is kind, empowering and honest. So often we want other people to treat us with kindness and honesty, but we don’t recognize that we can change our lives in giving this to ourselves.

The other quote is “What is for you won’t pass you.” When we face setbacks in any area, it is easy to use it as proof that we are not enough.

I know I felt this way when I experienced a layoff because of corporate downsizing. But if we can start to believe that our obstacles are the way to the best and truest life we can experience, they have a funny way of turning out to be the path to freedom and change. We just need courage.

What is your favorite kind of surprise?

I love words of appreciation.

I save every note, card and email from friends, co-workers, managers and family to remember how much love surrounds me.

The best surprise is when I get a great review from a rider, a thank you note from a client who got a promotion because of my help with their business strategy or a podcast listener who appreciated my content because it spoke to them. I will never grow tired of hearing I made an impact and helped someone. It makes my life.

Editor’s note: Five questions with … is a Sunday feature that showcases a member of the Stark County community. If you’d like to recommend someone to participate, send an email to newsroom@cantonrep.com.